1970 card conventions in The Trader Speaks

[trdcrdkid]

In my post the other day entitled "1969: The dawn of card conventions" (here: http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=218969), I posted some articles from Sports Collectors' News in 1968-69 concerning the then-new phenomenon of sports collecting "conventions", which at that point were basically just gatherings of a dozen or two collectors at someone's house. I then mentioned that in 1970, the number of such conventions started to proliferate, with some of them (the Midwest convention in Detroit, the Southern convention in St. Petersburg, Florida) starting to look more like modern card conventions -- held at a hotel, with celebrity guests, and the public invited to drop in.

The last article I included in that post was an editorial by Mike Bondarenko in the September-October 1969 Sports Collectors' News (actually published in November), in which he called conventions "the newest 'in' thing among sports collectors" and declared it "the era of the convention". Unfortunately, that turned out to be the last issue of Sports Collectors' News published until 1973, so Bondarenko wasn't able to report directly on the conventions that exploded in popularity over the next few years (though the same page as the editorial I posted included an announcement of the St. Petersburg convention already being planned by Irving Becker for the following June.) However, Dan Dischley, publisher of The Trader Speaks, was still around, and over the course of 1970 he did a pretty good job of reporting on the collecting conventions that popped up, either directly (in the case of Mike Aronstein's gathering) or through reports by others. I've posted these below.

First, in the February 1970 TTS, Dischley mentioned four conventions being planned for 1970, all of which I've mentioned in previous posts: Mike Aronstein's in New York state, Irving Becker's in Florida, Crawford Foxwell's Mid-Atlantic convention in Maryland, and Jim Nowell's second West Coast convention, the only one that was not a debut. Then in the April 1970 issue, Dischley reported on the March 15 convention at Mike Aronstein's house, which he had attended. I previously posted the account of that convention from The Ballcard Collector (here: http://www.net54baseball.com/showthr...23#post1499423), apparently written by an anonymous companion of Dennis Graye, who flew in from Detroit and stayed at Dischley's house the night before. In Dischley's account he mentions Graye staying at his house, but makes no mention of a companion, so I have to conclude that Graye wrote the Ballcard Collector article himself, from the perspective of his imaginary friend (or something).

I didn't post it below, but on the page following Dischley's account of the Aronstein convention is an announcement that the Mid-Atlantic Sports Collectors Convention would be April 25 and 26 at Crawford Foxwell's house in Cambridge, Maryland. In the May 1970 issue, Dischley passed along Foxwell's report of his successful convention, listing the names of the 14 collectors who attended, and also mentioned Irving Becker's upcoming Southern Collectors Convention in Florida. Then in the June 1970 issue, Dischley reprinted an article about the gathering that had appeared in the Cambridge, Maryland Daily Banner, and included a photo of nine of the attendees. I previously posted Foxwell's own account of his 1970 convention from The Ballcard Collector (here: http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=218560) and Dischley's account of Foxwell's 1971 convention (here: http://www.net54baseball.com/showpos...1&postcount=14).

In the September 1970 TTS, Dischley passed along a report of Becker's Southern Sports Collectors Convention at a Howard Johnson's in St. Petersburg, Florida, attended by 12 collectors (listed), plus 15-20 members of the general public who stopped by due to the publicity in the local newspapers. He also mentions that the second West Coast Convention at Jim Nowell's house had gone well, with 28 collectors attending from as far away as Philadelphia. I can't find any longer accounts of either convention (some might have appeared in issues of Ballcard Collector that I don't have), but I posted an account of the 1971 West Coast show from Ballcard Collector in this thread: http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=218371.

Finally there was the first Midwest Sports Collectors Convention in Detroit, and Lloyd Toerpe's account of it that appeared in the October 1970 Trader Speaks. I've already posted that in a couple of different threads, but for completeness' sake I've reposted it below.

[Leon]

"Nineteen collectors turned out, the largest ever for such an affair".

Sounds like the start to some shows trying to get going today. You have to start somewhere. When this board started there were only a few hundred members. Now there are exponentially more. It just takes time and persistence. This was a very early TTS. And as usual I note several names as current Net54baseball members, Fred Mckie, Ed Broder......(hey guys)...

Thanks for posting it, Dave.

[TCMA]

Originally Posted by Leon

"Nineteen collectors turned out, the largest ever for such an affair".

Sounds like the start to some shows trying to get going today. You have to start somewhere. When this board started there were only a few hundred members. Now there are exponentially more. It just takes time and persistence. This was a very early TTS. And as usual I note several names as current Net54baseball members, Fred Mckie, Ed Broder......(hey guys)...

Thanks for posting it, Dave.

Another great find! I've been adding all of these to my archive by the way .

I have seen this gathering at my father's house referenced several times as the "first" convention. One such reference is in the book "The Card" though it says the convention was in 1969:

[trdcrdkid]

Originally Posted by TCMA

Another great find! I've been adding all of these to my archive by the way .

I have seen this gathering at my father's house referenced several times as the "first" convention. One such reference is in the book "The Card" though it says the convention was in 1969:

Yeah, the 1969 West Coast convention at Jim Nowell's house was definitely before your dad's, and there had been several others (presumably smaller ones) that year, to judge by what Mike Bondarenko wrote in late 1969. Your dad's was certainly one of the first, but not the first.

Speaking of the West Coast convention, and since Leon mentioned Ed Broder as a Net54 member, here's a profile of him from the November-December 1971 Trader Speaks that references the 1969 West Coast convention as "the first-ever sports collector convention":

[TCMA]

Originally Posted by trdcrdkid

Yeah, the 1969 West Coast convention at Jim Nowell's house was definitely before your dad's, and there had been several others (presumably smaller ones) that year, to judge by what Mike Bondarenko wrote in late 1969. Your dad's was certainly one of the first, but not the first.

Speaking of the West Coast convention, and since Leon mentioned Ed Broder as a Net54 member, here's a profile of him from the November-December 1971 Trader Speaks that references the 1969 West Coast convention as "the first-ever sports collector convention":

Thanks for the info, I think I may have seen this one about the 1969 West Coast convention during some of my research but I lost track of it. Another piece to the puzzle .

[trdcrdkid]

Originally Posted by TCMA

Thanks for the info, I think I may have seen this one about the 1969 West Coast convention during some of my research but I lost track of it. Another piece to the puzzle .

Don't forget the stuff in my "1969: The dawn of card conventions" thread, which includes more details about the 1969 West Coast convention. I know you saw that thread because you commented on it.

[The-Cardfather]

Wow! And I thought that the card conventions were primitive when I first started going around 1974 or so.

And speaking of "The Trader Speaks".... Does anyone know what became of Dan Dishley? He was very kind, patient and supportive of a passionate 12 year-old collector (me). If I remember correctly, he took an early retirement from the NYPD in the late 1970s, so that he could devote full-time hours to "The Trader Speaks."

[trdcrdkid]

Originally Posted by The Cardfather

And speaking of "The Trader Speaks".... Does anyone know what became of Dan Dishley? He was very kind, patient and supportive of a passionate 12 year-old collector (me). If I remember correctly, he took an early retirement from the NYPD in the late 1970s, so that he could devote full-time hours to "The Trader Speaks."

George Vrechek interviewed Dischley in 2010 for a Sports Collectors Digest article on 1970s hobby publications, at which time he was 65 and living in Concord, North Carolina. From the article, available on the Old Baseball site:

************
I was able to reach 65-year-old Dan Dischley in Concord, North Carolina. Dan moved there from New York in 2007. He is still active putting together “career albums” for former major league players and hobbyists. The albums contain photos, stats, autographs, and cards. Surprisingly, Dan said he wasn’t a card collector –although he did own five Wagners at one time or another. He was interested in the Cincinnati Reds, autographs, and particularly photographs. Through family, neighbors, and word-of-mouth he got to know major leaguers like Cal Abrams, Mickey McDermott, Mickey Grasso, Wes Westrum, Pete Rose, and Gus Bell. He saw a hobby publication in 1968 and thought that he could do a better job of publishing a paper –and he did. He recognized the importance of timely delivery in order to attract auctions and advertisers and he worked hard. He seemed to be at the right place at the right time with TTS. The major people in the hobby came his way. He mentioned Bill Haber, Barry Halper, Pat Quinn, Irv Lerner, Larry Fritsch, and dozens of others. Dan said he “got in early and....gave them what they wanted.”

Dan was bothered by dishonesty he was finding in the hobby and grew tired of the long hours to put out TTS. After turning TTS over to Jackson, he went into the vending machine business and other activities including serious pool and poker. I mentioned that I liked the TTS covers and asked who designed them. “I designed them, usually about 5 minutes before the issue went to the printer I grabbed whatever I thought would work,” he answered. Dan Dischley is an interesting pioneer who dealt with practically everyone in the hobby.

http://www.oldbaseball.com/refs/70s_...blications.pdf

[The-Cardfather]

Originally Posted by trdcrdkid

George Vrechek interviewed Dischley in 2010 for a Sports Collectors Digest article on 1970s hobby publications, at which time he was 65 and living in Concord, North Carolina. From the article, available on the Old Baseball site:

************
I was able to reach 65-year-old Dan Dischley in Concord, North Carolina. Dan moved there from New York in 2007. He is still active putting together “career albums” for former major league players and hobbyists. The albums contain photos, stats, autographs, and cards. Surprisingly, Dan said he wasn’t a card collector –although he did own five Wagners at one time or another. He was interested in the Cincinnati Reds, autographs, and particularly photographs. Through family, neighbors, and word-of-mouth he got to know major leaguers like Cal Abrams, Mickey McDermott, Mickey Grasso, Wes Westrum, Pete Rose, and Gus Bell. He saw a hobby publication in 1968 and thought that he could do a better job of publishing a paper –and he did. He recognized the importance of timely delivery in order to attract auctions and advertisers and he worked hard. He seemed to be at the right place at the right time with TTS. The major people in the hobby came his way. He mentioned Bill Haber, Barry Halper, Pat Quinn, Irv Lerner, Larry Fritsch, and dozens of others. Dan said he “got in early and....gave them what they wanted.”

Dan was bothered by dishonesty he was finding in the hobby and grew tired of the long hours to put out TTS. After turning TTS over to Jackson, he went into the vending machine business and other activities including serious pool and poker. I mentioned that I liked the TTS covers and asked who designed them. “I designed them, usually about 5 minutes before the issue went to the printer I grabbed whatever I thought would work,” he answered. Dan Dischley is an interesting pioneer who dealt with practically everyone in the hobby.

http://www.oldbaseball.com/refs/70s_...blications.pdf

Thank you, David.